In order to improve your credit score you’ll need to start by getting your credit report. You’ll need to read your credit report over carefully making note of anything in the report that’s inaccurate. Once you’ve noted this information you’ll want to have it corrected immediately in your credit report. To have inaccurate information corrected follow the instructions in your credit report and send the required information to the company requesting the correction from.
Next you’ll want to take care of any negative credit. Perhaps there were some seriously late payments on an account or some other difficulties. A letter of explanation or a dispute letter entered into your credit report will help this information to be more clear to anyone seeking to give credit. Again, follow instructions in your credit report to accomplish this task. Always keep payment records for a few years to prove that you did indeed pay something off.
Now you’ll want to make sure to pay all of your credit cards in a timely fashion. This is going to include interest fees and use fees in some cases. Take your smallest balance and pay it off as fast as you can and then continue down the list in the same fashion paying down the smallest debts first. By doing this your credit worthiness is gradually improving and your score will improve right along with it.
As each card is paid off apply the same amount of money that was being paid on the previous card to the next card in line. This will snowball the amount of money being applied toward the money owed and the debts will be paid off faster.
Always pay the debts on time. When debts are paid on time there are less interest payments in the long run. The sooner your debt is paid off the sooner you can move on to the next debt.
Say no to any new credit offers. It’s tough enough to pay down debt and raise your credit score as is without adding new debt to the picture. It’s easy to improve your credit score when you’re not accumulating more debt. The fastest and easiest way to avoid more debt is to say no to any new offers.
Avoid filing for bankruptcy or foreclosure on homes. This will send your credit score into a nose dive and your credit will suffer for decades to come.
As credit cards are paid off it’s tempting to run that debt up again but the fastest way to maintain a healthy credit score is to resist this urge. While closing accounts can cause a nosedive in your personal credit score, the best way to improve your credit score is to keep those accounts open with an empty balance (unless of course there is an annual fee for that card in which case you’ll want to close the account). This will help to maintain the percentage of credit available to the credit used when calculating your credit score. If the cards are too tempting to use, cut them up but leave the account open to help your credit score remain high.
Using these tips will help to improve your credit score in the fastest ways possible.